LSD Self Portrait from the Inside Out 1966

Adrian Piper made this striking self portrait, called LSD Self Portrait from the Inside Out, with paint, no date is given. The bold outlines and contrasting colors create an intense visual experience, maybe echoing the altered state of consciousness suggested by the title. It’s a real trip, but the kind you experience through art. Looking at the texture, you see how Piper has built up layers of color. The swirling forms in yellows, oranges, and browns create a sense of movement, as if the figure is vibrating. Those thick black lines act like a kind of barrier, maybe, or maybe the scaffolding of the mind coming apart. The seated figure in the center is a solid, stark silhouette, somehow both present and distant. The way the figure is rendered against all that detail makes me think about interiority, or the layers beneath the surface. I find myself thinking about Hilma af Klint, another artist who went inside her head to find new ways of image making. It really shows how art can be a journey, a way to explore the unseen parts of ourselves.